I really don't understand FIFA at all. Anything that the rest of the world was excited about in the bidding process (ie Australia & England) performed terribly. Congratulations to Russia and I really wouldn't have chosen Qatar but I'm sure they'll do alright even with the many challenges they face. USA for 2026

Bad losers ...love it well done Russia you deserve it, lets deal in facts not bullshit like most do on here
1. russia never hosted before
2. russia is worlds biggest country geographically
3. russia is not the best footballing nation but has been consistently strong in all competitions and supported Fifa and football for over half a century
4. 12,000 average crowds or not Russia is statistically the strongest league in Europe after the usual suspects, England, Italy, Spain, Germany, Holland and France and more succesful than Portugal. With the exception of Portugal all those countries have hosted a world cup already.
5. Russian teams won Uefa cup twice in last decade
6. Russia is rich and new stadiums with better facilities can only encourage better attendance
7. Russia has a legacy, all the other European bidding nations do not need a world cup to develop football, their premier leagues do far more to promote football tham a world cup ever would a wc is for a month the leagues 9 months every year, year after year

As for qatar i totally agree it has no pedigree, no legacy needs no development will always struggle due to climate and the list goes on..the first middle eastern country should have been egypt or saudi arabia as they have on a much lower scale all the things mentioned to benefit from and a legacy would mean something.

1) ...With good reason.
2) Why is that a reason to have them host it?
3) So?
4) Relative strength of their domestic league is irrelevant. The question is whether their teams can fill the stadiums that they're going to such expense to build. Available evidence suggests that they can't.
5) See #3.
6) Highly debatable. Hosting a World Cup appears to have had little effect on attendances in Japan, South Korea or South Africa; all supposedly emerging markets. Many of the stadiums are largely unused.
7) If the infrstructure was so vital to Russia why were they not building it anyway. Did the really need the impetus of hosting the World Cup to prompt its construction?

At first i was pretty livid about the decision but now i've calmed down considerably.

Congrats to Russia & um Qatar ..... good luck.

To the Australians, Koreans, and Japanese. We all know your nations had better bids than um others.

& to my fellow Americans we WILL get 2026. no worries now.

and we can all still fly south to Brazil for 2014

That's right, you will most probably get it in 2026. I just heardthe Belgian FIFA-member Michel D'Hooghe on the radio news: "With 2018 going to Russia, 2022 to Qatar - and the 2026 World Cup will go the USA - it will be up to our grandchildren to give it another shot."

It will be very difficult if not totally impossible for small western countries (and small countries alltogether, unless they have infinite funds) to host such an event in the future. This was probably our one and only shot.

As for 2018, although we put together a nice and fan-friendly bid, it would have made the most sense if it had been awarded to England. But I guess they (BBC) just criticized FIFA a bit too much (with good reason).

Today is a big day for soccer fans around the world. The upcoming locations for the FIFA World Cup are being deliberated, and we have gotten word that Russia will host the events in 2018. In 2022, Qatar will host the games, beating out the United States' bid.

This past summer, the World Cup was hosted in South Africa. In 2014, the World Cup will be in Brazil. The last time the World Cup was in the USA was in 1994 and according to FIFA's website, the US has never won the World Cup.

Like the Summer & Winter Olympics, the World Cup only occurs once every four years. It's a fairly big event that involves many countries in the world. People who don't generally watch soccer will tune in to the World Cup just to support their country and watch some really good competition.

Soccer isn't very popular here in the States, but it is popular in Europe and South America. Brazil, Uruguay, Italy, and Germany have all won the World Cup. In 2010, Spain was victorious in the competition.

Scandal prompts questions
Last month, two of the 24 members of the voting executive were suspended following accusations of bribery by the British Sunday Times newspaper. Further allegations of corruption were released by the British Panorama television programme days before the vote.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin boycotted the presentation ceremonies in protest at the “unscrupulous” campaign that had been aimed at Fifa officials in recent weeks. But he is reportedly due to arrive in Zurich later on Thursday to congratulate his winning bid team.

Fifa has dismissed many of the media allegations, but the scandal has prompted Switzerland to review the way it monitors sporting bodies headquartered in the country.

Sports Minister Ueli Maurer is looking at ways of restructuring regulations and laws to stamp out corruption in sport. At present, non-profit sporting bodies based in Switzerland are not answerable to anti-corruption laws that govern commercial firms.

Some 50 international sporting associations are headquartered on Swiss soil. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was the first to arrive and has been based in Lausanne since 1915.

Russia's top football average attendance was around 12,000 last season, our 2nd division average attendance was around 18,000 and at steeper prices, on top of that England's bid was considered a much lower risk by just about everyone. Despite these factors Russia are supposedly a more deserving host nation.

Not much more I can say about Qatar than what has already been said, shocked to see Austria only get 1 vote.